In a league reshaped by injuries seemingly overnight, the San Antonio Spurs look like they are finally finding their new identity.
Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace need surgery, hampering the Spurs’ biggest obstacle to returning to the NBA Finals. The Minnesota Timberwolves have lost their star for some time.
The Spurs’ new vision, meanwhile, is taking shape now that Victor Wembanyama is hitting his stride. Things looked sticky facing two of the league’s best defenses in the Thunder and the Rockets. Houston looked ready to step up as contenders when it outlasted San Antonio last week and has continued to look strong in its undefeated start. But the past week has provided the Spurs room to explore how they want to play.
The organized sets are getting Wembanyama quality looks. In Wednesday’s win in Utah, Wembanyama joined David Robinson as the second Spur to have at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and five assists with no turnovers. He’s still shooting poorly from deep but is starting to shoot in rhythm off the catch. He even hit the short-roll 15-footer that needs to become a consistent weapon in his arsenal.
Against Utah, the Spurs used a plethora of pick-and-rolls to get Wembanyama either wide-open 3s or uncontested alley-oops behind the defense. It was the efficient and steady version of Wembanyama that the Spurs will need routinely.
But there are still some glaring concerns the team has to work through. The minutes when Wembanyama hits the bench have been a huge vulnerability. Coach Mitch Johnson said part of the issue is that the four players surrounding Luke Kornet in the second unit need to play better. Tobias Harris’ eventual season debut will go a long way to ensure the offense holds up when Wembanyama walks off the floor. But it remains a pain point.
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs celebrate with Keldon Johnson against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. (Daniel Dunn / Imagn Images)
Then there are some of the split-second decisions in key moments. When Wembanyama gets a rebound with the shot clock turned off at the end of the game, he often tries to move the ball up the floor instead of calling a timeout. It’s a near-universal practice to immediately call a timeout to stop the clock and advance the ball to the frontcourt. In some scenarios, teams elect to play it out if there is enough time to get up the floor and set something up, especially if there is a matchup they want to target.
Against the Jazz, Wembanyama corralled a rebound and didn’t call a timeout, resulting in a wasted chance to win the game in regulation. Johnson took the blame for not calling that timeout, but it was also an example of how the Spurs’ star needs to improve his decision-making and feel in high-speed, high-pressure situations.
He’s improved at reading the floor and figuring out how to beat different defensive coverages. The Utah game was his best work of the season, as the Spurs dialed up lots of high-post handoffs to draw doubles out of the paint or empty side pick-and-rolls to get him behind the coverage for a lob.
He may be doing fine for someone in their fourth season, but that’s not the standard anymore. When you walk into the season as the MVP favorite, you are expected to look like an MVP. This was the first competitive game where Wembanyama looked the part.
Top Plays from Spurs @ Jazz
The Spurs found something promising with Wembanyama creating out of the high post, where guards could loop in curls around him until they were open under the rim. The Spurs’ last bucket in regulation came on a Devin Vassell cut while the Jazz doubled Wembanyama, which was notable. The Spurs have a lot of drivers who can get near the rim, but the team doesn’t get all the way to the rim with clean looks reliably. Wembanyama drawing doubles out of the paint is an easy way to get those looks more reliably while also limiting his energy expenditure.
Though their preseason was a dud, the Spurs built on some of the actions that they need to become their bread and butter. Now that the opening slate of juggernauts is out of the way, the work they did through training camp is starting to reveal itself.
The slow start was inherent to the risk they took when they changed the starting lineup. But while the league loses key players on nearly a daily basis, the Spurs’ path gets a little bit easier as their play gets a little bit stronger.
The Spurs have only five games left in the calendar year against teams that won 50 games last season: the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. They have a pair of matchups against Utah, the Portland Trail Blazers and Toronto Raptors in that span — teams that have either proven or expect to prove competitive. But the road ahead looks relatively smooth for a team finally finding its footing.
